Invicta Fighting Championships held their third event and once again stunned the MMA world.

The all-women’s promotion, which held its inaugural event in May 2012, crowned its first atomweight champion after Jessica Penne submitted Naho Sugiyama in the second round with an Anderson Silva-equse triangle choke. Prior to the fight, Sugiyama was undefeated at 8-0.

In addition to Penne and Sugiyama’s atomweight title match, there were several memorable matches on the card.

In the co-feature bout, “The Queen of Spades” Shayna Baszler found redemption by submitting Sarah D’Alelio in the second round with a rear naked choke.

One fight I had looked forward to watching was the rematch between Kaitlin Young and Leslie Smith. The two had previously met at Invicta FC 1, which had not only ended in a draw, but also earned Fight of the Night honors. The second fight would not disappoint as both Young and Smith came out of the gate firing on all cylinders.

In the second round, Smith would capture Young in a crucifix and delivered a slew of punches to Young’s face until the referee stopped the fight.

There were several other notable performances throughout the night, including the scrap between Michelle Waterson and Lacey Schuckman, Jessamyn Duke’s submission, and the debuts of Tecia Torres and Kaiyana Rain.

Overall I enjoyed the event. Although Invicta will continue to grow, their first three events have been some of the best fight cards in 2012. No doubt that 2013 will be the year they make their claim as one of the top promotions in MMA.